Florida Gov. Charlie Crist remains overwhelmingly popular with a 68 - 18 percent job
approval rating that makes him a strong favorite for re-election in 2010, but Sen. Mel Martinez's
42 - 33 percent approval rating makes him much more vulnerable, according to a Quinnipiac
University poll released today.

State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is at this point the best positioned among leading
Democrats to challenge Gov. Crist, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University
poll finds.

Crist scores an impressive job approval rating of 78 - 12 among Republicans, 60 - 26
among Democrats and 66 - 17 among independent voters. In response to a separate question 58
percent of Florida voters say he deserves a second term in office, compared to 27 percent who
say he does not. On a third question, 50 percent say they would vote for Crist if the 2010
election were today, while 28 percent say they would vote for his unnamed Democratic opponent
and 23 percent are unsure.

"Florida votes Democrat for President; unseats a couple of Republican congressmen and
the state GOP is worrying about the state turning blue, but nothing seems to hurt Gov. Crist,"
said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Charlie Crist
is a like a Swiss watch: his numbers are both predictable and impressive. There are a lot of
Democratic governors in America who aren't as a popular with members of their own party as is
Crist, a Republican."

"Even in bad economic times and with his Republican Party seemingly on the ropes, he
remains incredibly popular," Brown added.

Among the Democratic officials mentioned as possible 2010 Crist opponents and whom
respondents were asked to rate favorably or unfavorably, Ms. Sink - the only statewide elected
official among the four - scores best.

She is viewed favorably by 27 percent, unfavorably by 13 percent, with 59 percent of
voters saying they don't know enough about her to form an opinion. Still those numbers are far
superior to U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, with an 11 - 5 percent favorability, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek,
with a 14 - 8 percent score, and State Sen.-elect Dan Gelber, with an 8 - 3 percent favorability.

"No matter who becomes the Democratic nominee, Gov. Crist will start the campaign as a
big favorite for re-election," said Brown.

Although Sen. Martinez gets a somewhat favorable job approval rating, only 36 percent
of voters say he deserves another term, while 38 percent say no and 26 percent say they are not
sure. If the election were today, 36 percent say they would vote for Martinez while 40 percent
would support his unnamed Democratic opponent and 24 percent are undecided.

"The road to a second term appears more difficult for Sen. Martinez than for Gov. Crist.
Martinez' numbers aren't awful. The key to his winning re-election will be winning back the
allegiance of independent voters, who currently are not in his corner. But with a third of
independents saying they re undecided, he certainly has an opportunity to accomplish that end,"
said Brown.

Attorney General Bill McCollum gets a 51 percent job approval rating, three times the 17
percent who give him a thumbs down verdict.

Florida voters approve 30 - 66 percent of the job President George W. Bush is doing.

From November 11 - 16, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,361 Florida voters with a
margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Charlie Crist is handling his job
as Governor?